Solace ~ h.s.

⪻ 01 ⪼

⪻⪻⪼⪼

I remember the sound the truck made when it collided with our vehicle. It was a crunching sound of metal and glass that mixed with the screams from my family's fear-filled lungs.

I remember the motion our car made upon impact; it was like falling head over heels for a psychopath; sky, ground, sky, ground.

I remember the cooling sensation of water meeting my sneaker clad feet. I had always loved the water, but when the blue droplets began to grow higher and higher, I found myself hating it's eerie existence.

I remember a man, calling and splashing out above the sounds of my small brother's frantic cries. His voice somehow calming in a moment of utter chaos.

But I do not remember how I got to this nearly silent hospital room.

The moment my eyes open a surge of anxious feelings is felt deep in the pit of my stomach, among other aches and pains my body is feeling. My vision starts to go in and out and I find myself moaning in slight pain. The sensation lasts no longer than a few seconds before I can comfortably gaze around the room.

The first thing I notice is the repetitive sound of the heart rate monitor to my left, annoyingly ringing a bit quicker at the discovery of the wires and tubes running from me. The next is that I'm completely alone in this room.

Where am I?

Where are my parents?

Oh my God, where is Edward?

Frantically, my fingers fumble around until they're pressing the call button at a mile a minute. I hear light shouting from outside the room before an out of breath nurse with greying hair stumbles into the confines of the plain room.

"Sweetheart, enough of that." She chuckles lightly, rushing to my side to remove my hand from the button and shut the alarm off. "You're alright." She assures me, taking a look to make sure everything that should be attached to my body remains intact.

"Where is my brother? He must be so scared. His name is Edward Chambers. He's five years old and he has brown hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a blue and white stripped shirt and dark wash jeans and -"

"Shhh dear, take a deep breath. Your brother is okay." Her statement does little to calm my anxiety as I shake my head.

"No, listen, we were in a car accident and he was crying and there was blood and-"

"And he is doing just fine now. In fact, he's right down the hall."

At her confession, I find myself throwing the blankets off my bare legs and going to swing them to run to my brother's side.

"I need to see him."

"Miss, you need to remain in bed. I cannot permit you to leave. You have a serious concussion, bruised ribs, and many lacerations. Please, lie back."

"No, I can't! You don't understand!"

"Miss, please!"

Why doesn't she understand? It's my kid brother. He's probably scared to death.

"Mary, is everything alright?"

A familiar voice rings out from behind the nurse holding me hostage. It's smooth like honey, but with a hint of a rasp. The depth of it stirs me from my panic in, who I can only assume to be Mary's, grasp.

"Annabelle." The voice isn't from Mary, as her lips have yet to move; I can only assume it's come from the calm man that's just entered the depths of the room.